


Rakuen

by amoralisch



Category: Original Work
Genre: Adventure, Dystopia, Fantasy, MMORPGs, Video Game Mechanics, Virtual Reality
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-11-03
Updated: 2015-11-09
Packaged: 2018-04-29 17:13:47
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 7,292
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5135972
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/amoralisch/pseuds/amoralisch
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>In the year 2042 Japan won the race for the first virtual reality massively multiplayer online role-playing game, as JPNeuroCorp announced the release of Rakuen for last quarter of the year. These news came as a shock for the remaining video game industry and ripped screams of joy from players worldwide. It should change the game industry and lives of millions of players forever. Meanwhile disturbing news about a new disease flash across all screens, claiming all players are at risk.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Prologue**

* * *

 

 

> **_They are playing a game._ **   
>  **_They are playing at not playing a game._ **   
>  **_If I show them I see they are, I shall break the rules and they will punish me._ ** **_  
> _ _I must play their game, of not seeing I see the game._**
> 
> **R.D. Laing _, KNOTS_**
> 
> * * *
> 
>  
> 
>  

In the year 2042 Japan won the race for the first virtual reality massively multiplayer online role-playing game, VRMMORPG, as JPNeuroCorp announced the release of  ** _Rakuen_**  for last quarter of the year. These news came as a shock for the remaining video game industry and ripped screams of joy from players worldwide. It should change the game industry forever.

 _Rakuen_ , paradise… no humbler name was chosen for a game, that promised nothing less than carrying its players into just that; paradise. It was the first game of its kind, carefully hidden, so that nothing would sully a glorious victory. No other game had ever been discussed to such extent.

The NNG, Neuro-Navigation-Gear, blinked green twice as it acknowledged the user's password. It skipped the warning screen, which told the user that while using the device, they would be unable to interact with their surroundings. It also skipped the recommendation that warned the user to spend no longer than three hours in each session and to be sure to be in a safe environment. The user had gotten rid of these two screens a while ago. Every NNG user knew them by heart. They had been unskippable for five years until someone had posted a nifty walk-around on the internet. Full dive washed over the user like a warm blanket. The NNG took control of the user's body and caused a temporarily paralysis. It was nevertheless a liberating feeling and the user felt weightless inside an artificial world. The user navigated swiftly through the personal log-in screen that held all the essential information such as email, voice and video messages, shortcuts for a number of sites and forums, a friendlist for other NNG users and glowing icons for various games. It also told the user their basic vital information such as heart rate and temperature, as well as the duration of this session, the local time and even the room temperature. If needed, the user could access their session logs and find out exactly how much time they had spend online in the past. The safety logout that would end each session automatically after three hours was disabled, indicated by a yellow glowing warning icon on the top left side. The user didn't mind, didn't even see the icon anymore. Safety logout or not, the NNG would terminate the session if the user's vital signs were no longer in a acceptable range.

The user glanced at the new messages, checked the voicemail, most of it spam, and focused on a new icon in the game section.  _Rakuen_. The name brought up mixed feelings and even a hint of fear.

          _Today was the day_ , the user thought. With an imagined deep breath, the user reached out for the glowing icon and accessed the game.

The personal midnight blue background of the NNG home interface faded and soft white light came from below. Like small, glowing particles it surrounded the user, dissolved the customized web avatar into a simple light sphere. There was a gust of wind that blew the particles away and as the user followed them with their gaze, saw a glowing horizon. The rising sun cast the first rays of warm sunlight onto a vast landscape. A chorus rose softly, singing the well known theme song, immediately recognized by the user from countless ads and videos in the media and then the familiar characters appeared.  _Rakuen_

The light sphere was swept away and the user felt like flying as the world came closer in a rush. In the distance gleamed shining towers and rooftops, as a great city came into view. Closer and closer it came as the sphere raced over the woods and fields below. There was a sudden drop of altitude that gave the user the feeling of a rollercoaster ride. Green leaves brushed imagined cheeks, as treetops swallowed the light sphere. Below the race continued between thick trunks and waist-high grass blades. A young man on horseback came into view. He was being chased by two bandits, who screamed and urged their mounts to run faster. The light sphere rushed closer, flew right above the young man und merged with him. The user could suddenly feel the horse below, could feel the wind and smell the grass.

           _Ah_ , the user thought,  _that's how riding must feel like!_ It was the user's first time on horseback, in real life or virtual reality but it felt amazing, even though they had no control over the movement whatsoever. The bandits came closer as the user glanced back over the shoulder of the young male avatar. Before the persuaders could catch up, the light sphere separated itself again, took a turn left and continued its journey.

There was a hunter not too far ahead, a young, childlike looking female with large eyes, strawberry blond hair and cat ears. She stalked her prey and the user could feel the smooth wood of the bow as the sphere merged again. The weapon felt light as the hunter knelt down and looked at some footprints. At that moment, a snarl came from behind and a wolf jumped out from behind the brush. The user could feel it as the hunter dodged the attack by rolling to her right. The bow was no use in close combat and the young female drew her dagger in a swift, sure motion. The shiny weapon would have to do until she could gain enough distance again. As the wolf snarled again and leaped at her. The user felt the impact as the hunter was pushed back to the ground and blocked the attack with the dagger. The user gasped, felt the weight of the beast above and stared up with wide eyes as suddenly the journey went on.

The sphere rose up again, left the woods behind and below lay a green valley. There were people down there. A tall man who faced a female with surprisingly revealing metal armor in a duel. She carried a heavy looking, huge axe while he held a lance in both hands. Both grinned at each other. But the user wanted to go on, wanted to get to the city that had come into view not far ahead. Following the impulse, the light sphere raced on.

The city was even bigger than the user had first thought. It was surrounded by high walls, too high to be climbed but now the sphere was leaping over them effortlessly. Behind them lay a maze of cobblestone streets, plazas, curious looking towers, a variety of houses and an impressive looking citadel at the center. Another stomach dropping feeling as the sphere rushed down a chimney, into one of the houses. An old, bearded man pulled a red glowing sword out of the fire of burning embers. The user felt the heavy hammer that could make even the hardest metals pliable. There was a certain satisfying feeling to it. The heat and smell were stunningly realistic and the user thought once again what a shame it was, that most jobs nowadays confined the employees to desks in large companies and that most people never had the experience of creating something real with their own hands anymore. The thought left a bitter taste but faded as the sphere left the blacksmith.

In front lay a wooden building, its form reminding the user of an Asian temple. From the inside came shouts. The sphere came to an open door. There were monks inside the temple. They trained with each other, aiming fast blows, swift kicks and were attacking each other with fist weapons. The user willed the sphere to go on, anxious to see the end of this journey. Behind the temple was a beautiful garden with cherry trees in bloom. Below them stood a samurai, eyes closed in concentration, sword gleaming in front of him. The user glanced back once but decided to go on.

Finally, the citadel came into view again. One of the huge metal doors opened and a scream echoed across the plaza. A tall, pale female ran outside, glancing back over her shoulder. 

          _An Elv_ , the user thought, recognizing the tall, beautiful race of this game that had made it onto the most popular cover art. She had two short swords on her back and held a book in one hand. Behind her emerged a man from the citadel. He wore shining armor and carried sword and shield. The sword he aimed at the Elv, who stood below the steps to the citadel now. She grinned wickedly at her pursuer and placed the book inside a bag at her waist. A thief, the user realized and felt the moment at which to choose between the two characters below. The moment passed and the sphere stayed idle above the plaza to let the user watch the scene below. The female reached up for one of her swords, as the knight came down the stone steps. More screams echoed from inside the citadel and then more knights emerged, confronting the thief. The Elv's grin never wavered, as she paused for just a second, then turned around and ran across the plaza, followed by the knights.

Below the door to the citadel remained open and the user willed the sphere to move on. Inside it was too dark to see anything but the user went on, stepped inside with unseen legs and then the door closed with a hollow sound.

 


	2. Character Creation

Rakuen

* * *

 

 

 

 

> **_"The internet is so big, powerful, and pointless that for some it is a complete substitute for life."_ **
> 
> **\- Andrew Brown**

 

 

* * *

 

on NNG – Neuro-Navigation-Gear:  
A device designed by JPNeuroCorp originally intended to be used by the military for extensive simulation training. The device manipulates the user's brain, allowing them to experience a full body simulation of a programmed virtual reality. The NNG interrupts brain signals to the body, rendering the user paralyzed while undergoing a _sim-dive_.  
After introducing the NNG into the medical field, it did not take long for the entertainment industry to create a brand new market for the somewhat lethargic online entertainment customers. Wildly debated and nearly banned by a number of countries, the NNG was officially released worldwide along with a number of restrictions:  
\- The usage of the NNG for children under 16 years is prohibited.  
\- A sim-dive session using the NNG should not exceed three hours. (s. battery life)  
\- Individuals with certain conditions such as heart disease [...] should not use the NNG without constant monitoring of medical personal.  
\- [...]  
It would be years later until the uproar subsided and the NNG became part of modern society. By then the NNG had undergone a variety of upgrades and modifications. As JPNeuroCorp finally announced the release date of Rakuen, most users had the NNG's 7.2 series at home and no user wanted to go back to the old days, the 'authentic' days as some nostalgics called them.

The earlier generations of the NNG did not include the option to use the device while recharging it, preventing sim-dive sessions longer than three hours. Later generations however included this feature an increasing internet addiction has been observed since they were introduced.

* * *

 

 

 

 

 

Today I will decide on my third name. In our society people are used to having two names. The first one is given to us by our parents and the second is chosen by ourselves when we first register our NNG profile. With this profile we are able to access the metaspace, a part of the internet created for sim-dive content. Basically, it is a place where you can be someone you are not in your real life. All you need to do is create or buy an Avatar and choose a name. Our NNGs are linked to pretty much everything in our lives by now, credit cards, communication, work, shopping, virtual travel, games... you name it. When the NNG first became popular, an American entertainer coined a phrase that is still in use after ten years: " _On the day you register your profile, you'll suffer society death!_ " They had laughed back then but many have come to realize, that this was not so far from reality. Society Death, we still call it that, because many people literally vanish for a couple of days, in some cases weeks or even months, after signing up for their first full dive ride into the metaspace. It very easily becomes addictive and some say that they might have died the Society Death but have been reborn online.

Today though, I will finally sign up to a new adventure. I will sign up to Rakuen. I have given this a lot of thought. Everyone around me seems pretty much divided into two groups of people, the first being very much against playing this game, the second trying to convince me to give it a shot, saying that I won't regret it. Rakuen remains popular since its release and still surprises with each announcement of the new subscription numbers. Meanwhile the news constantly remind us of the problems this game has created. More and more people admit that they are addicted to Rakuen. It is like a drug, they say. Paradise-Syndrome they call it, when a person rather spends all his time inside the game than outside, until they can't face reality anymore. 

Yet, I want to give it a shot. Many of my friends play Rakuen and as far as I can tell, none has any symptoms. I still meet them at school, well, met them since we all graduated a while ago...  I still see them though, sometimes outside when we go out but mostly online. They seem fine, really. And now I have convinced them to start over with me inside this game. They have told me on which server I should play. I still have a few hours until we will meet ingame but I want to have an early start so I will have some time to get used to it. I also have to create a character, hence me sitting here, brooding over my third name. I say sitting, when in reality, my body is resting on my bed, pretty much dead to the world. I would not notice if someone would enter my room or speak to me. The NNG filters everything, allowing me to enjoy my full dive experience. Of course there is a safety system. Very loud noise, drastic change in temperature, smoke and critical changes of my vital signs will terminate my session immediately.

Right now my NNG metaspace avatar created for my daily net use sits cross-legged in thin virtual air, staring at the game symbol on my home screen.

_Whatever!_ I think and decide to login and decide on a name later.

The intro catches me very much by surprise and I feel kind of overwhelmed by the experience. I have read that I could skip parts of the intro simply by willing my character, well the glowing sphere that will become my character eventually, to move on and I skip some of it. By now I feel anxious to start, to get into the game. I have read about the races and classes of this game before but it is still exciting to really be part of this world and getting a first glimpse of it gets me even more anxious. The Intro ends at the Capital's citadel and everything fades to black around me. The music is gone, pretty much all sound is gone for a moment and then a deep male voice comes from somewhere above me.

                "Choose wisely."

Six figures step out of the darkness in front of me. Three males and three females, one of each race. This game isn't so different from many other MMORPGs. Players can choose between races that have proven quite popular over the years since people began playing these games. To my left stand the tallest two of the six figures. Elves, they are called. They look very elegant, one fair and one dark skinned. Rakuen divides each race into wood and towns folk, which influences the appearance of the characters. There are differences for each race but in general wood folk have darker skin shades and more organic looking accessories, such as leaves and feathers, while towns folk has lighter skin and crafted accessories.

In this case, the female Elv is part of the towns folk. She had pale skin, white, long hair, braided elegantly and decorated with a silver hairpin. She wears a long, pale blue robe that covers her skin but does nothing to hide her curves and no shoes. I can see tattoos on her skin, sharply angled designs, vanishing below her robe. The male Elv has dark, almost purple skin and black hair. He wears a dark shirt and trousers and his tattoos are less edgy looking. He wears a bracelet that looks like it is made from leaves and wines.

Next to them stand the male and female human characters. She is a dark skinned beauty with curves I could only dream of in real life. Her black curls are decorated with sea shells and she has scars on her bare arms and one on her lower lip. Her robe is red and she wears a pendant carved from a piece of wood. Her male companion is a smart looking young man in grey clothes. His hair is light brown and he wears a three-day beard. He could be a model or an actor as realistic as he looks, all of them do, really, apart from the less human parts like elvish ears.

The last pair are two small figured with big eyes and round faces. They both look a bit childlike and innocent. She has cat ears sticking out from her messy red curls which are loosely braided. She even has cat paws and a tail. There are some leaves and berries in her hair and she looks so cute in her dark green robe that I want to hug her. The male character of the Small Folk looks pretty much human, apart from his slightly pointed ears. His hair is cut short and he wears a leather bracelet and white clothes.

I have decided on this part already. I am going to be a female character and I want her to be one of the Small Folks. I am not so sure about the animal paws but I cannot say no to those ears. As soon as I make my decision, the other characters vanish. Now my new avatar stands in front of me and I am given an overwhelming list of options to customize her. I can literally change anything about her and it takes me quite a while to go through all the options. In the end I decide against the animal paws. My characters nails are a bit longer and sharper but that should be fine. I also decide against any kind of tail. There have been quite a few options for them as well. For now my avatar has reddish brown hair that looks rather messy without any braids, large ruby eyes and a rather childlike physique. There are a few voice options but I go for the 'no filters' setting. Some people hate their voice but mine does not sound so unpleasant to me. To be honest, quite a few people have complimented me on my voice before. The last setting is for the height of my character. I find that rather odd since it is such a basic setting that it should be pretty much on top. As soon as I touch the bar though, a warning appears that informs me that a difference greater than five centimeters between my character's height and my real body's height would influence my game experience. I frown at that and push the bar down as far as I can get away with without triggering this warning.

Alright! After confirming my settings I am taken to the next big choice. Which class do I want to play? Rakuen has seven main classes from which I can choose. Seven versions of me with different weapons appear in front of me. The Knight holds sword and shield in her hands, the Samurai carries a Katana and Wakizashi, the Lancer carries a pole arm over her shoulder, the Berserker faces me with a huge, two-handed axe, the Bladedancer has a sword in each hand, the Archer carries a bow and a dagger and the Monk is equipped with fist weapons. Here I am able to play around a bit. I can control each character, while being given a few of their basic attacks. Some feel very strange, some feel good. I pretty much decided to be an Archer while I had been in the intro. Luckily non of her attacks make me feel out of place.

That leaves me with only one decision to make. What name should I choose? I try a few. Some are names from my favorite movies or books, some are from animes. They are all taken already. A few minutes later the system agrees with my choice and asks me the finale question: Do you want to enter Paradise, _Rook_? I choose 'Yes'. 


	3. Reborn

* * *

 

 

 

 

> ### “I've come up with a set of rules that describe our reactions to technologies:  
>  1\. Anything that is in the world when you’re born is normal and ordinary and is just a natural part of the way the world works.  
>  2\. Anything that's invented between when you’re fifteen and thirty-five is new and exciting and revolutionary and you can probably get a career in it.  
>  3\. Anything invented after you're thirty-five is against the natural order of things.”
> 
> ###                 ― Douglas Adams, The Salmon of Doubt
> 
>  

* * *

 

 

Taking your first steps in the world isn't easy— apparently it is the same in paradise. Luckily, in paradise, you got the ever patient Assistance System to help you out. As soon as I opened my new eyes, I feel overwhelmed with the intensity of the experience. It feels so— _real_. Honestly? I have a huge, stupid grin on my face right now but I can't help it. The air smells like trees and grass and I can feel the sunshine hitting my face in warm patches shining between the leaves above. How long has it been since I had left the city with my real body? I can't even remember. As part of the Small Folk, I have found myself inside a forest. Peering between the trees and underbrush, I can make out a few other new players but no one appears right next to me. Somehow, that is a relief. I don't feel like embarrassing myself in my first few minutes with the unfamiliar game controls.

As I look around, thinking about where I should go first, a small, furry animal jumps out of the underbrush and sits down right in front of me. I cannot really tell what it is supposed to be— something between a fox and a rabbit with long, floppy ears and a fox tail. Its pelt has the same reddish brown color as my hair and it looks up at me, carrying something attached to its collar. I bend down, reaching for it, brushing the soft fur with my fingertips and marvel at the feeling. I untie the small scroll and begin to read.

 

 

 

 

> **Welcome to Rakuen, Rook**   
>    
>  **As part of our Recruit a Friend Campaign, we are pleased to present you with this**  
>  **small gift and hope you will enjoy your new adventure with your friends.**  
>  **Enclosed is a** _Friendship Bracelet_ **and a letter from your fellow adventurer, as well as a map.**
> 
> _Hi!_ _（‐_ _＾▽＾‐_ _）_ _  
> Mimi and I are waiting for you [here] tonight at seven! Can't wait to see you ingame!_
> 
> _Yuna_  
>    
>  **May the stars guide you.  
>  ** **Rakuen Dev. & Support Team**

 

Yuna and Mimi, my two former classmates and childhood friends, have finally talked me into signing up for this game. — Well, of course those are not their real names. Real names are kind of frowned upon inside the metaspace. I assume it is the same inside the game.

                Better get  used to it sooner than later, I think but then realize, that I won't find my two childhood friends with their smiling faces greeting me but their avatars. That should make it easier to attach new names to them inside my mind.

A small sound and a text message popping up in a chat window in front of me tell me, that my Friendship Bracelet has been placed inside my inventory. As I hover over the item name with my hand, a small, seen-through 3D model of the item appears, telling me, that while using this item and forming a party with my friend, I would get a 5% experience bonus until level 10. Wondering how to find my inventory, the small fox-rabbit introduces itself to me.

                "Greetings, traveler. I have never seen your face around these woods before. Would you like me to show you around?" I blink at the thing. It is quite cute, honestly, all floppy ears and soft fur. Could I pet it? By looking at it for a few seconds, the system notices my interest and provides me with a name: Assistance System (Rook), I frown. That's a mouthful. Its tiny nose twitches and it looks up at me. "Have you lost your tongue?" Cheeky little thing.

                "Uhm… sure, I'd like that." I reach out and it does not move. A window appears. >Would you like to rename >Assistance System (Rook)<? Yes/No< I choose yes.

                "I see," the creature says. "What would you like to call me?" There is no new window so I say the first thing that comes to my mind.

                "Floppy." And ta-dah, my little friend has got a new name above its furry head.

                "That's not very original now, is it? Oh, well, if you must," it sulks. "Don't hesitate to ask me anything you want to know. These woods are dangerous to travel alone, you know?"

 It feels odd to talk to it but I get used to it. My little guide acts as my tutorial, teaching me the basic commands and actions I would need to find my way into the first town. It turns out, I don't have to speak with it. Certain waypoints and my helpless fumbling around inside the main menu cause Floppy to give me all the information and repeating it as many times as I like. I notice other new players around me and most of them are accompanied by little furry creatures. They all have the same color as the players' hair.

I have another look at the map Yuna sent me. It doesn't tell me much. Most of it is clouded in gray mist. It moves in slow swirls above the parchment. With Floppy's help, I transfer the waypoint onto my world map. It takes me a moment to realize just _how_ _vast_ this world seems to be. The glowing point indicating the meeting point for tonight lies in a clouded area across the map. Apart from its coordinates, the only thing I know about it is that it is close to the area named Lorā'n. The letters are readable even through the mist, so I suppose it has to be an important place, like a capital city or something. Apart from Lora'n, there are three other areas with names: Ishtāl, Ōh'n and closest to me Zu'r. Zooming in, I am shocked how small the area I have discovered so far really is. I must have wandered around those woods for at least ten minutes and apart from some simple 'go over there and pick that thing up' type of tutorial, I have been walking.

This area is called Deep Roots on my map and it seems to be a small wood surrounded by rocky hills with a path leading out of it to the east. If I have to walk all the way over to Lorā'n, I have to hurry or I won't make it in time for our meeting. I turn around and run. Floppy stays on my heels but I ignore its suggestions to what I should do or where to go next. Running, I discover, is not based on my real body's stamina. If that would be the case, I would most likely be panting by now but the speed does not bother me. I try sprinting, amazed that my legs obey me so easily. It is liberating, as if I have become some famous athlete overnight. A moment later though, my euphoria suffers its first blow and my pace slows down to a slow run again _._ Okay, so I better use those short sprints for emergencies.

By the time I reach the forest line, a new window flashes before my eyes and I stop briefly. >By leaving Deep Roots, you are abandoning your tutorial.< Floppy is sitting under a tree, looking at me. This is where we part ways. I turn around again, smiling. Well, I shrug, just wing it!

 

* * *

 

Whydoes this freeze up on me now, I whine inwardly as the creature lunges at me _._ Oh crap! If I don’t dodge this, it will kill me. Again! Argh! How frustrating! My character stands there unmoving, as if she has accepted her fate already. Even if there won’t be any pain, I cringe and close my eyes. I wait for the sound I have heard countless times already in the past couple of hours but it does not come. Instead there is a screeching howl and I open one eye to see what is happening. The mob, a grey wolf with gleaming yellow fangs, is gone. The only indicator of its existence is the glittering loot on the ground. It lies right in front of me but the menu won’t open. It is not mine, I realize.

                “You shouldn’t be here.” The voice startles me. It comes from right behind me and I imagine turning around. Luckily, my avatar moves this time.

                "Great, now you move," I pout. The childishness is wiped away as I face another player standing right next to me. He is a human Bladedancer, as far as I can tell and as I focus on him, his name appears on my screen. String  Lvl 38? Shit… I hope he doesn’t kill me. The thought must have shown on my face because he frowns at me with an amused grin on his lips.

                “You’d be dead already if I wanted to.” He shrugs then sheathes his swords, two of them, again on his back. I look at his avatar; taller than me, but not that much, which means that he isn't the tallest guy in RL, real life, either, white hair, pale gray eyes and fair skin. He seems to enjoy the monochrome look, since even his gear, light armor made of leather and some kind of metal doesn't sport any kind of bright colors.

But how can he talk like that? Shouldn’t there be a chat menu or something? The tutorial has informed me, that there are some ways for me to communicate with others. Apart from speech to interact with NPCs, I can choose from different voice and text chats when it comes to players. I move my hands and spread my fingers like the tutorial had explained and sure enough, there appears a blue, glowing keyboard in front of me. I know there are various channels but the default setting says [say] so I guess it is what I am looking for.

                _Thank you for your help_ , I write and hit send. His eyes move right in front of him, although I can’t see anything there. It must be the chat window. He shrugs again, looking back at me.

                “Got lost,” he asks. Lost? I don’t think so. My map is still covered in mist where I haven’t been yet, but the location point Yuna had given me is still there. It glows softly and when I touch it, it names the coordinates.  I’m getting closer, although this will take even longer than I had thought.

_No, I’m on my way to Lorā'n_ , I type. He frowns, a doubting look on his face. Does he think I’m lying?

                “You won’t make it. Your first day?” Well, duh. I’m level two, of course it’s my first day. What does he think? And what does he mean, I won’t make it? Sure, I’ll die a few times… I figured that out already. As I start to type my response, I make a wrong move with my hand and the keyboard switches back to the main menu.

                “Gnaah,” I sigh, annoyed with my own clumsiness. He grins at me, cocking his head to one side. I guess he noticed my struggling from my lack of response by now. “Oh, come on,” I whine as it wouldn’t switch back immediately. I’m getting more and more nervous, making wrong gestures with my hands, which causes the menu to switch between some options, I have no idea what they are for. At least he seems amused by my incompetence. “Why can’t I use the keyboard again,” I mumble, spreading my fingers again but nothing happens.

                “Seems like you are in the main menu. You’ve got to close that first. – Don’t bother, though. I can hear you just fine.” Right, close the— He what? The hell?! He heard me complaining the whole time? As my face flashes crimson in RL, so does my ingame avatar.

                “Uhm… you can?” I ask, part of me hoping it was just a joke.

                “Yes. New players got their NPVC enabled by default,” he says, looking a bit bored now, one hand on his hip, glancing around.

                “Right... my NP… uhm…” How emberassing. What is he talking about? I really should have read some guides before I started— or finished the tutorial. Finally, the menu closes and vanishes from my sight.

                “Non Party Voice Chat – NPVC,” he explains and moves around me to inspect the loot the mob had dropped earlier. He doesn’t seem to care for it and closes another screen I cannot see. “So why Lorā'n? You should really stay in your starting zone, you know? I’m not even sure you’ll get any quests in Lorā'n.”

                “Uhm, my friends are there. I want to meet them.”  I manage to turn around and look at him again. Moving this character is easy enough as long as I am not panicking. I can't really read the expression on his face. Then he sighs, as if giving up on a debate with himself.

                "Listen," he says, "you won't get there. This road ends at the next town and as you can see, at your level, you will get killed even if you don't leave it. If you want to play with your friends, you should just log out and make a new character." He turns around and looks down the road I was following.

                "But I like this one." Too late, I hear the snarl behind me. Damn, these wolfs really can smell me from a mile away as it seems. Bow, I think. Bow, bow, bow... But as I turn around, bow in hand, the wolf is already too close for my weapon. I yelp and rather gracelessly, fall back and land right next to String's feet on my ass. He rolls his eyes, reaches for his swords and stops, as the wolf finishes me in two attacks, faster than he could kill it. My vision loses all color and the vivid world fades to black and white. Even now, lying dead on the ground, I can look at my surroundings, at the player next to me. His hand has let go of his weapon again and now covers his eyes. His expression is a mix of disbelief and... I think annoyance. Great. The wolf ignores him and returns, now that its prey, me, is dead, back to its place on the field next to the woods.

                "How weak are you?" he asks and crouches down next to me, talking to my dead avatar. His eyes look at me. "You haven't done a single quest, have you?" I do not know if I could or should reply to that. I am pretty sure dead players can't talk and I don't know if the chat would work right now. But he doesn't seem to care anyway. "Your gear is your level one starter gear and you don't have a dagger. —Which you would have, if you'd done your level two class quest." He shakes his head.

I feel like pouting again. Dead people don't pout, I tell myself and touch the 'Release Spirit' option right in front of me with my ghostly hand. Like so many times before, it teleports me to the nearest statue of a male figure sitting on a stone, pondering over some kind of book —maybe a religious figure of some kind? From there I walk back to my dead avatar, lying on the road to merge my body and spirit again. My little Archer opens her eyes, and I can see colors again. I blink and sit up, another wolf lies dead right next to me.

                "Thanks again," I greet String who has been waiting here. He ignores it.

                "Go back, do your quest," he says instead. Then he turns and walks away. I glare at his back but realize that he obviously has to know more about the game than I do. I can't cheat and use him as my body guard either because, as I have seen, the wolfs will just ignore him and attack me instead if I follow him.

                "I'll make it," I call after him, stubbornness comes to me as easily as breathing. He does not turn around. "Meet you there?" To rub it in your face…

                "City guards won't let you in." What? I run after him, watching out for more wolves.

                "Then why did my friend give me this map?" He bends down, picks something up and looks around, searching. I reach his side. Nothing here I could pick up.

                "Maybe your friend doesn't know better?" As far as I know, Yuna and Mimi have been playing Rakuen for nearly six months. I am sure they would know that much. Most likely, this guy is making fun of me.

                "I don't believe you," I say, arms crossed in front of my chest. He keeps his eyes on the ground, reaching for herbs, gathering them most likely. "That's pretty rude, lying to a new player like that." He looks up at me, obviously not caring in the least about my hurt feelings, before walking on, looking for more herbs. Still, I follow. "Why wouldn't they let me in?"

                "Wolf," he says calmly, not even looking at me. The mob growls and attacks me from the left. It had been hiding behind some brush. This time, I reach for my bow and aim at it. I've done that before and at first, it had made sense since I actually could kill the first monsters I had encountered right outside Deep Roots. It had taken me some arrows, most of them had missed, and a lot of running but I could kill those. By now though, the beast doesn't even flinch or slow when my arrow hits it. I curse and run again. Not too far ahead is another monster, a huge brown bear, standing right next to a river. It has not noticed me yet and I make a sharp turn to my right. More monsters in front. Damn! Another turn and I end up running circles around String, who is still gathering herbs. I have no idea how long I will manage to evade certain death like this. Not able to dodge all of my enemies out here, I end up with four of them following me, but evade claws and teeth by sprinting as often as my cooldown would allow it and jumping over some fallen trees and rocks, while still circling String. I catch him grinning at the scene. Luckily, these monsters are pretty slow and don't have any attacks that could hit me at a distance.

                "So glad to amuse—" I miss a root in front of me and land face first in the dirt but once more I narrowly cheat death as String strikes down all four monsters with an acrobatic combo attack before sheaving his swords again.  The ground smells like grass and wet dirt and even though the fall had not hurt me, I can feel the texture of the ground below me now. Amazing, I think, thrilled by the detail the game designers have put into it. I stand up, facing him. "Thanks, _again_." He does not respond to that this time either. I sigh, shoulders hanging, bow still in hand.

                "Map," he orders, hand reaching out in my direction. Uhm, how do I… I fumble around and somehow manage to make a copy of the waypoint on my map, more by accident, really. He requests the trade, keeping me from figuring that part out by myself. He glances at the map and smirks. How long since he saw a virgin map on his screen, I wonder. "Your friend is a moron," he says. Another trade and then I hold an uncovered part of the world map in my hands, a copy of his part of the map. Now I realize, that Lorā'n in indeed a capital city and that the waypoint lies outside of it, in a small town called Willow Mill. "Willow Mill is a level five town in the human starting zone. Your friend should have told you to make a human character. Your story quest will take you to Lorā'n at level fifteen. You can't walk there either. There is a border between here and the human empire."

                "But I really like this character." I'm still looking at my map.

                "Go back, do your quests. You can meet your friend at level fifteen." He turns his head to the side, as if listening to something. "Got to go."

                "Wait, how long does it take to get to level fifteen?" If I'd hurry, maybe I could still meet Yuna and Mimi tomorrow.

                "About…" he thinks about it for a moment. "ten days, maybe. Depends on how often you play. If you get a few hours in each day— yea, about ten days." Ten days? Holy shit. The shock must be clearly visible on my face, much to his twisted delight.

                "So, I have to walk all the way back?" It took me long enough to get here and running back dying over and over again does not sound too enjoyable to me. A half-grin tears at his lips.

                "I can help you with that." Drawing his blades, he gives me a strange look, than vanishes suddenly and before I know what is happening, I am dead on the ground. _String has killed you_ , a chat message informs me. What the hell? "Now, don't walk your spirit back here, just return to your last home town. Since you don't have one yet, you'll end up in your starting area." Gee, thanks. I do as I am told and sure enough, I open my eyes, sitting up in Deep Roots with Floppy sitting in front of me, staring at me, nose twitching.

                "Welcome back," he greets me.  


End file.
